Photo: Wcnghj (Gregory Ramey) · CC BY-SA 3.0Limestone’s library lends 5.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Robert A. Frost Memorial Library serves Limestone’s 1,811 residents. Last year it lent 10K books, movies and e-books and logged 1,354 visits.
Limestone’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Robert A. Frost Memorial Library serves 1,811 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 31 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Robert A. Frost Memorial Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, below 95% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 5.8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone in Limestone has a card
1,546 cards for 1,811 people, or 85%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Robert A. Frost Memorial Library holds 26,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 1% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 80% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Limestone’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Limestone is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Limestone
4.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.6%
13.6% of Limestone’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.0% in the typical Maine town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Limestone’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Robert A. Frost Memorial Library serves 1,811 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
10K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
67 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
46 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Limestone last year.
Find it
Robert A. Frost Memorial Library, 42 Main Street, Limestone.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Limestone? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Limestone cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $77K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $173K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $77K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 1,546 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limestone | Robert A. Frost Memorial Library | 5.8 | 31 | B |
| Fort Fairfield | Fort Fairfield Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 21 | C |
| Caribou | Caribou Public Library | — | 39 | B− |
| Caswell | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Limestone
Does Limestone have a public library?
Yes. Robert A. Frost Memorial Library, 42 Main Street, serves Limestone’s 1,811 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Robert A. Frost Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Limestone’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 5.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Limestone’s civic life grade?
B Limestone is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on civic life. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Limestone.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.